She laughed and pulled a tap handle carved from a thick branch. "Try the 'High Desert.' No added sugar, aged in bourbon barrels for three months."
Elias tossed his work gloves into the truck bed. Twenty minutes later, he was pulling down a gravel driveway lined with heavy-limbed trees. The air here smelled like bruised fruit and damp earth. Inside the tasting room, a woman in a flannel shirt stood behind a copper-topped bar. hard cider where to buy
The screen bloomed with pins. There was 'The Apple Core,' a boutique bottle shop downtown known for importing dry Spanish sidra and heavy-hitting French varieties. Then there was 'Oak & Vine,' the big-box retailer three towns over that definitely had the commercial six-packs of Angry Orchard or Woodchuck if he wanted to play it safe. She laughed and pulled a tap handle carved
The liquid was pale gold and sparked against the glass. Elias took a sip. It was crisp, slightly effervescent, and carried a faint whisper of vanilla from the wood. It was exactly what his afternoon required. The air here smelled like bruised fruit and damp earth
Elias had spent all afternoon clearing the brush from the back pasture, and the dust of a dry October day had settled deep in his throat. He didn’t want a beer, and he certainly didn’t want water. He wanted something that tasted like the orchard—sharp, cold, and fermented.